santorum surges, gingrich appears to be sliding badly. a cnn/"time"/orc poll of republican voters out tonight has mitt romney leading with 25%, ron paul right behind at 22, rick santorum now at 16%. newt gingrich at 14%, down from 33% a month ago. and rick perry in fifth at 11. we have two reports, dean reynolds is with the paul campaign. we begin with jan crawford, who is following mitt romney. jan. >> reporter: jeff, mitt romney had been taking a low profile here in iowa, but today he was all in, and everywhere he went he got an enthusiastic reception from voters who are focused on one thing-- taking the white house back from barack obama. >> i think to beat president obama, we have to have someone who has a vision of what america can be. and will make it stronger and more prosperous and create jobs. >> reporter: in campaign stops, romney repeatedly made the case that he can beat

president obama. surrogatelike congressman aaron schock reinforced that message saying the white house knows it. >> mitt romney is the guy they fear most. >> reporter: that message of electability seems to be reacting through, giving romney new confidence here as former house speaker newt gingrich plummets in the polls. earlier this month, gingrich had a commanding lead in iowa but then came front-runner scrutiny and a slew of negative ads claiming he is a washington crony who swayed from conservative principles and his marriages. >> know what makes barack obama happy? newt gingrich's baggage. >> reporter: that's resonating with iowa voters like car salesman bud freers, who once supported gingrich but now has decided to back romney. >> i feel more that this man has a better chance of beating obama than gingrich because-- mainly because the baggage situation. >> reporter: gingrich complained today that the ads will backfire. >> because the only person helped by negative ads is barack obama, and our business is to

defeat him, not to help him. >> reporter: speaker gingrich said this morning that the attack ads that you and some of the others have been running have only helped barack obama. what's your response to that. >> you know, it's pretty warm in the political kitchen. and if he can't handle the heat that's on right now, just wait until we have a billion dollars of barack obama's hell's kitchen ads. >> reporter: now, the fact of romney's point is he can handle the heat and whatever president obama throws his way. in fact, jeff, he's been the target of democratic attack ads for months as the obama looks to knock him down before the general election. >> romney like the other republicans could not help but notice ron paul's rising numbers in iowa. dean reynolds is in des moines. dean, good evening. >> reporter: good evening, jeff. well, ron paul told the audience here today he believes the public is ready for change in domestic and foreign policy, and he thinks that's why, as he put it, "we're moving up a little bit in the polls."

( applause ) returning to the iowa campaign trail, ron paul immediately saw something was different. >> it does look like there are more cameras than there used to be. >> reporter: running near ort front of the pack, the 76-year-old texas congressman is getting more attention than he ever has, but a lot of it now is negative and coming from his competitors, who zero in on what they say is his dangerously naive foreign policy. >> actually, one of the people running for president thinks it's okay for iran to have a nuclear weapon. i don't. >> ron paul would be dangerous as a president of the united states. >> i think the more that iowans look at ron paul, the less attractive i think he will become. >> reporter: paul's also vulnerable when it comes to elicatibility. the latest cbs news national poll shows only 8% say he has the best chance of beating president obama. but at paul's appearance in newton, bill and amber holland strongly disagreed. >> ron paul's been really

steady. i think it's because his message is-- it's starting to strike a chord with a lot of people. >> reporter: do you think he can win the nomination and be elected president? >> i think he can because he has the following. people want totally different change, something different. he's-- he's different, and i mean, that's why i like him. >> reporter: paul's standing here is grounded on a well-run organization, followers who say they would walk bare foot on cut glass to vote for him, and well-produced, starkly negative ads. this one started running today. >> serial hypocrites and flip-floppers can't clean up the mess. one plan stands alone. >> reporter: he sure does stand alone, and out of the mainstream of his own party. and while that may give heartburn to the g.o.p. establishment, it's safe to say that ron paul wouldn't have it any other way. jeff. >> glor: dean, i did want to ask you tonight about rick santorum, who appears to have made this surge, now in third in this latest poll. what's behind that? >> reporter: well, rick

santorum was the first candidate and perhaps the only candidate so far to visit all 99 counties in iowa. he did that quite some time ago, and he did it the old-fashioned way-- hand to hand, face to face. and he accomplished it without much money, and overcoming enormous media and republican party establishment skepticism. and it just may be that with his impeccable conservative credentials and having seen the other conservative alternatives to romney wither, that rick santorum's moment in the sun has come at just the right time. jeff. >> glor: dean reynolds, thank you. in north korea today, an elaborate, staged funeral for the country's late dictator kim jong il. david martin reports on the drama and what it means moving forward. >> reporter: as the funeral procession came into view, wales of grief went up from mourners who lined the route. the grief not felt outside north

korea. just across the border in south korea, they actually celebrated with fireworks. although his people called him their heaven-sent leader, kim jong il was seen by most of the world as the dictator from hell, an autocrat who developed nuclear weapons while his people were starved of both food and freedom. whether genuine or staged, the grief was a tribute to the personality cult built up around him during his 17 years as supreme leader. "the snow is endlessly falling like tears," said this soldier. "how could the sky not cry when we've lost our general who was a great man, from the sky." his son and heir-apparent as the next supreme leader walked alongside the hearse. young, in a culture that values age, inexperienced and a country that seems to lurk from crisis to crisis, and to the outside world, unknown. kim jung un is said to be just 28 years old, but even that is

not certain. his father had 20 years of grooming as the next leader before he took power. the son has had two years. intelligence analysts are porring over these images, searching for clues of the new leadership of north korea. who stands in the foreground, who in the background, who makes the deepest bow? the initial analysis is all the key military and political figures are supporting the son, but no one can say whether he will be the real leader or justa i figurehead. the biggest unknown is whether he will continue his father's policy of putting the military first. the funeral procession certainly looked like the military still comes first. he inherits a small but growing arsenal of nuclear weapons, as well as a missile program that within five years will be capable of delivering a nuclear warhead on the continental united states. the u.s. wants north korea to suspend its nuclear program as the first step toward

negotiations that could lead to normal relations. the father wouldn't do it, and so far, there's no indication the son will, either. jeff. >> glor: david, i know new leadership is still being sorted out, but what do the nort north koreansment from the u.s.? >> reporter: most immediately they want shipments of food which the u.s. is willing to do so long as 2 goes to its people and not the military. for their part, the north koreans say if there are no food shipments there will be no progress in the nuclear talks. >> glor: a shudder went 32 the industry today when iran threatened to block the strait of hormuz. the price of crude had been rising steadily for two weeks and iran's threat pushed it over $101 a barrel but closed at 99 after the u.s. navy warned it would not tolerate a blockade and saudi arabia promised to off offset and lost oil. all of this points to instability in the markets.

here is national correspondent jim axelrod. >> 142! >> reporter: in the trading pits at the new york mercantile exchange, they're not buying iran's threat to seal off the strait of hormuz. after all, iran derives 70% of its income through oil. >> it really doesn't behoove iran to shut the strait of hormuz because those barrels that they sell to china, those travel through the strait of hormuz as well. >> reporter: rana posturing is the latest geopolitical influence on an oil market that's seen its share of volatility. unrest in libya, as well as other countries during the arab spring, saw upward pressure on prices. oil peaked at $114 a barrel in may. this year, consumers paid the highest average price ever at the pump, $3.55 a gallon. american drivers are set to spend a record $481 billion on gasoline. fear of recession and high unemployment in europe pushed demand in prices down to $75.66

in early october. but in 2012, traders expect such drops to be the exception and not rule. >> if tensions rise further, if there are some significant supply disruptions, the price of oil will rally, and it will rally hard. >> reporter: traders we spoke with say they won't be surprised to see oil stay around $100 a barrel or more. while europe may be close to a recession, china and india certainly are not. their economies are growing and their oil use along with it, providing a floor for prices. >> glor: some supporters of alabama's controversial immigration crackdown are having second thoughts. a promising new approach to treat combat injuries. and the ancient feud that had christian monks attacking each other inside church when the cbs evening news continues.

>> glor: the obama administration has deported more illegal immigrants than any prior administration, and latino voters have taken notice. in a pew survey out today, 59% say they disapprove of how the president has handled the deportations. states are also cracking down. mark strassman went to alabama, where some are having second thoughts now about a tough new

law. >> reporter: construction company owner tommy seals supports alabama's controversial new immigration law. it requires noncitizens to carry documentation and fines employers who hire illegal immigrants. >> we have people that go out there and hire people at a cut-rate price which i think is wrong. i think it's wrong for the folks that it harms yet it happens and it's been happening unite a bit, at least until this law came into effect. >> reporter: seals thinks the law has helped his business. he has hired two more people because, he says, competitors can no longer undercut him. but in thomasville, alabama, mayor sheldon day worries the state's law has turned off his city's foreign investors. >> as one of my international visitors said, we feel like alabama shot itself in the foot when it did this because we didn't think it out. >> reporter: in thomasville, two foreign companies, one canadian, one chinese, have invested $230 million and created 800 manufacturing jobs

in a city of 5,000 people. because of the law, the chinese in a city of 5,000 people. because of the law, the chinese factory reportedly is reconsidering whether to build a reconsidering whether to build a $100 million factory in thomasville. >> i stand behind the law and what we intend it to do. >> reporter: mike hubbard is the speaker of the house in alabama. >> we're just simply trying to enforce the law because the federal government has done a horrible job of enforcing its own law. >> reporter: since the law went into effect, a german mercedez executive, here legally, spent the night in jail after a traffic violation for not having proper identification. so next february, alabama's lawmakers will consider changes to the law, including one provision making it a crime for immigrants not to carry their citizenship documents. so many people are saying, "just get rid of this law." >> it's got some parts of it that we need to change to make it work better and to-- and to make it more enforceable, and we intend to do that. >> reporter: so for anyone who expects alabama to back down and just repeal this law outright

you say forget it, that is not going to happen. >> that is not going to happen. >> reporter: alabama is not backing down but more investors may be back out. mayor day tells us a steel company plan'ing invest in thomasville will hold off until its foreign workers feel more welcome. >> glor: in bethlehem, religious rivals got into a brawl today inside the famed church of the nativity. it was a turf battle between greek orthodox and armenian monks. each side accused the other of encroaching on their part of the church. 100 monks swung brooms at each other until palestinian police broke up the fight. the military rethinks how it treats the signature wound of war when we come back.

>> glor: we get word from afghanistan today that three nato troops were killed by a roadside bomb. that kind of attack has caused nearly 40% of the fatalities in afghanistan and iraq and it often causes the signature wound of these woors brain injuries. now, charissa ward from afghanistan says the military is take a new approach. >> reporter: getting treated by captain amy gray can entail playing with dogs, watching movies, even getting massages. an occupational therapist, gray heads the concussion care center at forward operating base fenti, where a simple technique is

making the world of difference in treating soldiers with mild traumatic brain injury, known as brain sprain. >> your mission when you're with me is to sleep, relax, and get better. >> reporter: specialist nick mckee was inside his base when an insurgent rocket exploded less than 20 feet away from him. he escaped without a scratch but quickly knew something was not right. >> i felt nauseous all that day and pretty much had headaches ever since. >> reporter: and what else? >> trouble sleeping. mainly. trying to go on like it didn't happen. that's probable the hardest part. >> reporter: despite incredible developments with blast-resistant vehicles like this one, traumatic brain injury is still the most common injury on the battlefield. in the last 10 years, more than 320,000 service men and women have been diagnosed. up until recently, mild concussions often went untreated. if soldiers weren't visibly

wounded, they kept on fighting, sometimes resulting in serious long-term health issues. now, the military is rethinking its approach. >> what we found is within the first 24 hours, if we can get them down, get them a good night's sleep, the symptoms usually go away. >> reporter: more than 200 soldiers have passed through here since gray arrived in may. almost all have returned to duty within a week. >> i'm sleeping. i'm eating. and pretty much just anxious to get back out to my guys. >> i go from becoming captain gray to mom. and they will literally call me mom. >> reporter: part officer, part mother, but wholly committed to treating her soldiers. charisa ward, cbs news, forward operating base fenti, afghanistan. >> glor: the war in afghanistan, of course, began in response to the attacks on september 11. and tomorrow, the national 9/11 memorial at ground zero in new york is expected to announce that it's had one million visitors. the memorial opened just three

and a half months ago. the photographer who took the first close-up of snowflakes was also one of a kind. his story is next.

>> glor: you've heard, of course, that no two snowflakes

are the same. each one carryaise special beaut. but seth doane tells us we might not have known that if it weren't for the snowflake man. >> reporter: in places like vermont this time of year, the treetops really can glisten. but even here, where wintry nostalgia is part of the landscape, few remember one vermonter's passion for snow. wilson bentley was born the year the civil war ended, but by the early 1900s, he was known the world over as "the snowflake man." the first person ever to photograph microscopic images of snowflakes. they were delicate, stunning, and complex. >> people still find them lacy and ephemeral. they just really speak to people in a beautiful way. >> reporter: wayne howe preserves the legacy of the snowflake man at the jericho vermont historical society, in the town's old red mill. here is bentley's first microscope, a childhood gift from his mother. and the camera that he jerry

rigged to photograph more than 5,000 images of snowe crystals. >> when the snows came, he had a black board-- it was actually a tray-- and the snowflakes would fall on that tray and then with a feather he would kind of rifle through and then he would pick that up with the edge of the feather-- because if he picked it up with his finger, it would melt-- put it on the slide-- a glass slide-- put that under the microscope, and then he could photograph it. >> reporter: in the 1920s, bentley's life's work was finally discovered, published worldwide, and celebrated in "national geographic." after an especially ambitious snowflake safari in 1931, bentley caught a bad cold which developed quickly into pneumonia and two days before christmas, the snowflake man passed away at the family home. >> the sum of his story is that perseverance matters. perseverance makes a difference. if you pick something you love

and you keep doing it over the course of your lifetime, that's-- that's what makes life really satisfying. >> reporter: tucked away in a discreet corner of the town's cemetery, bentley's grave is marked, fittingly, by the humblest of stones. it is, however, surrounded by a beautiful blanket of snow. seth doane, cbs news, new york. >> glor: that is the cbs evening news tonight. for scott pelley, i'm jeff glor. i'll seal you tomorrow on the "early show." good night. captioning sponsored by cbs captioned by media access group at wgbh access.wgbh.org

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